


No Man's Empire

by uniqlo_sweater



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Video Game World, And a few K-dramas, Ben is a shut-in, Crack Treated Seriously, Eventual Romance, F/M, I was thinking of the movie Paprika while writing this, Idk yet if there will be any sex scenes, If you want them, Inspired by K-Drama | Korean Drama, Maybe - Freeform, Online Friends, Psychological, Rey is a college student, Science Fiction, Slow Burn, Virtual Reality, pretty sure this was partly inspired by spy kids, really slow burn, these tags are a mess i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:28:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22631833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uniqlo_sweater/pseuds/uniqlo_sweater
Summary: Ben has a secret. A successful video game creator and comic book artist, Ben is a 29-year-old recluse who has refused to leave his apartment in four years due to a traumatic experience. After amassing a large following online despite his anonymity as a creator, he befriends super-fan Rey without revealing his true identity to her. Both are given a chance to test a demo version of a virtual reality game based on Ben's latest work. However, things don't go as planned in the game. Rey and Ben must find a way to ensure the game doesn't change reality as they know it, while Ben struggles to learn more about who he is and to fight against the darkness growing inside of him.** Told completely from Ben's perspective, the story will use elements from all three sequel movies. **
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	No Man's Empire

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> The title of this fanfic comes from the song No Man's Empire by Newspeak, a Japanese indie rock band whose songs are completely in English. If you like indie music, you should check out Newspeak. 
> 
> Chapter title comes from the song Hikikomori by Bang Yongguk.
> 
> Please check the notes at the end of this chapter for more information. :)

Ben set down his tablet and stretched his arms in the air, yawning. He glanced at the digital clock on the wall that flashed 4:01AM in bright red, realizing he’d spent most of the last thirteen hours sitting at his desk drawing. Not that it mattered much, he had always had an irregular sleep schedule. Tomorrow though, one of his assistants, Poe, was coming over and he groaned at the thought of having to wake up before noon for work. He frowned when he realized he’d left garbage all over the drawing table and a week’s worth of dirty dishes in the sink. 

He pinched the top of his nose and closed his eyes for a moment, the three large computer monitor screens in front of him the only light in the pitch black apartment. He couldn’t feel his butt anymore as he swung his chair to the side to stand up, his body aching. Chewie had chided him on sitting for such long periods of time. He thought maybe it was time to hire another massage therapist to come over, what with the deadline for his comic coming up soon. Poe was bound to chew him out tomorrow too for not taking proper care of himself.

He scratched his ass as he walked hunchbacked to the fridge to see if he still had anymore of the meals Poe had prepped for him, but was disappointed to find nothing more than a half empty box of butter and a few cans of beer. His stomach growled. He’d forgotten to eat both lunch and dinner in his eagerness to continue working on his comic, and he doubted he’d eaten a decent breakfast either. He bit his lip knowing that would be another thing Poe and Chewie were bound to harp on him about. He made a mental note to order groceries online in the morning before Poe comes over.

Ben felt a buzzing in the pocket of his sweatpants and hauled out his cellphone, squinting at the brightness of the screen. Only one person would ever text him this early in the morning, and he couldn’t help the grin that broke out on his face when he read the message from her.

Rey: hey are you alive?? You haven’t answered our RP in almost 48 hours, dude. I’m starting to get worried.

For a moment, he felt guilty that it had taken him so long to respond to her, but Rey was mostly used to his habits by now. She knew he had a busy job, although she wasn’t exactly sure what it was he did. She only ever sent texts asking if he was alive when he’d gone MIA for an extended period of time, and it was always when he was approaching a deadline.

Ben: sorry I was working. I’ll answer tomorrow, ok?

His heart nearly stopped when he saw the three dots that meant she was replying back to him, almost instantly. The phone nearly slipped through his shaking fingers.

Rey: oh sorry, did I wake you up? Did you sleep at all?

Ben scratched his ear. He punched back a quick “not yet” and not even a minute later she was calling him. He almost tossed his phone in panic, yelping when her name flashes across the screen. He was used to her calling him whenever she wanted to, but he was so tired he wasn’t sure if he could even form coherent words if he heard her voice now.

“Dude, it’s 4 in the morning, are you on crack?” Rey chided him, and Ben felt his ears burn red. He was glad she couldn’t see his face, or his heavily disheveled appearance. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d brushed his hair, and his shirt smelt decidedly of Sprite and possibly mildew.

“No, I got carried away.. with work,” slurred Ben. “I was just about to go to bed.”

Rey went silent for a moment before he could hear her cluck her tongue. “Y’know, sometimes I really worry about you. And this weird… mystery job of yours.”

Ben laughed nervously, shuffling himself to his bedroom. He nearly tripped over books that he’d forgotten to put away several days ago that he’d taken out as references. “Yeah, you and everyone else I know.”

“Did you at least drink water?” Rey asked him. It sounded like she was rifling around in her cupboard.

“A little,” Ben shrugged, hauling off his sweatpants and then his shirt. He grimaced at the idea of doing laundry tomorrow, or rather letting Poe do it. “Poe’s coming over tomorrow though, so don’t worry too much. He said he’ll be here before eleven. So maybe I’ll eat a vegetable or two.” 

“Honestly Ben, I’m starting to wonder if you ever go outside.” Rey nearly giggled.

But Ben wasn’t amused. He took off his glasses and set them on his nightstand, sighing. She wasn’t wrong, but she had no idea. “Alright, Rey, I need to go,” he murmured, holding the phone close to his face. His voice was breathy into the receiver. “Have a good day.”

He didn’t let her respond before hanging up, too tired to speak any longer. He stared at his screen as it slowly faded to black, at her name. Something in his chest ached with longing, and with disappointment in himself. He curled himself into a ball as he read her last message to him, the words boring themselves into his mind long after the screen melted away and his eyes had fluttered shut, a mixture of regret and contentment swirling inside him as he dreamt of her for a moment. He wanted to see her. 

\---

“Do you answer the door to your UberEats guy dressed like that?” Poe muttered as he walked into Ben’s apartment. Ben was standing in just his boxers, yawning, dark circles under his eyes. 

“Sorry, I just woke up.”

“No, really?” Poe rolled his eyes, but his teasing was in good nature. Ben was thankful for Poe and all he did for him, even if he was paid to be here. Poe almost smiled at him until he saw the messy state of the living room. “Ugh, Ben, again? Seriously?”

“Sorry, I-”

Poe glanced over at Ben’s desk, the only area that ever seemed immaculately cared for in the apartment. “Were you up all night drawing again?” he asked, his eyes on Ben’s tablet.

Ben was hauling a sweatshirt over his head, almost causing his glasses to slide off of his nose. “Yeah,” he replied sheepishly. “I had an idea.”

“You always have ideas.” chuckled Poe, who was now clearing away the mess like clockwork. Ben felt embarrassed over how Poe was used to the condition he left the apartment in whenever he was left alone.

An hour later, with most of his laundry in the washing machine and the trash thrown away, Poe was making them lunch, the smell of coffee lingering in the air. Ben took a small sip from his coffee mug as his eyes remained fixed on the tablet, flicking up occasionally to the main computer monitor he used. 

Poe plopped a rather fancy looking sandwich down in front of Ben, who jumped. “C’mon, buddy, it’s feeding time.” Poe teased him, as if he were a seal at an aquarium. Or maybe a penguin.

“Not near the desk,” mumbled Ben sternly while glaring upwards at Poe, taking the plate and waddling over to the table. He was a rather large man but always seemed to appear like an awkward teenager, the kind of kid who hid in his room during family gatherings. “You know the rules.”

“Yeah yeah,” Ben could feel Poe rolling his eyes as he spoke. Ben was very particular over where he ate and what he ate. Poe had made a manual on what kinds of meals he knew Ben would eat. He whistled loudly a moment later, clucking his tongue at Ben. “Oh wow, Ben, you’ve really got it bad, dude.”

Ben felt the tips of his ears burn red, having forgotten what exactly he’d been drawing. He immediately stood up and stumbled over a chair that Poe had pulled out, collapsing like a rumpled mess of a human to the floor. “Ow! Don’t look at that, Poe. Put it down. It’s private.”

Poe grinned at him widely while wiggling his thick eyebrows, holding the tablet in his hands. “What kinds of ideas were you having last night?”  
Ben sometimes felt like Poe treated him like a child instead of a 29-year-old man, although Ben could understand why. He pouted at Poe, which caused the younger man to giggle. He groaned as he stood up and stomped over to Poe, forcing the tablet out of his hands and hugging it to his chest. His face was crimson red. 

“How’s things going with her anyway?” Poe asked, biting into his own sandwich. Ben sat with his shoulders hunched to hide his embarrassment, glaring at Poe through stray black curls. 

“There’s nothing going on, I’ve told you that.” Ben could feel his voice wobble as he said that, the words awkwardly cracking as they bubbled in the back of his throat. 

Poe waved the sandwich with a flick of his wrist and was rolling his eyes again, dramatically. “Yeah, yeah, you always say that,” he took another bite, seemingly impressed with his sandwich making skills. Ben began to nibble on the edge of his. “But then you had to go and create a character based off of her.”

Ben was well aware of Poe’s knowledge of his particular obsession with… her. He could hardly manage to speak her name out loud, and yet he’d named a character after her. Not just any character, but the main character of his comic. He nearly choked on his sandwich, covering his mouth with his hand to muffle the sounds.

“If only she knew who Ben Solo really was,” mused Poe, sitting back in his chair. Ben was hiding his face in his hands now as Poe glanced at him. “Does she even know your full name yet?”

“No, and I would prefer she never finds out.” Ben groaned through his hands. He’d lost count of how many times they’d had this conversation. 

Ben had first met Rey through an online gaming forum around two years ago. He’d already established himself both as a prominent up-and-coming comic book artist and in the video game industry a few years before they met, and Rey had been a huge secret superfan of his work. Ben wasn’t sure why. He’d never met one of his fans before, not even in real life. He knew he had many, it wasn’t hard to find them online, but his anxiety caused him to never interact with them. Until he met Rey.

He sometimes lurked on forums online and in chats to see what people thought of his work. A growing number of fans were beginning to wonder who exactly Ben Solo was, as he’d remained anonymous somehow. He’d created a character that represented him, a delicately drawn black crow. Sometimes people complained about his lack of presence at conventions given his status in the community. If only they knew why.

After lunch, Poe had pulled back some of Ben’s dark curtains, beginning to clean his windows. Ben was never sure why he did that, since he never touched the windows anyway. Poe was a bit of a clean freak. Ben flinched at the flooding of natural light like a vampire in the sunlight. His reaction caused Poe to frown.

“You aren’t going to die.” Poe said flatly, turning to his next task after he’d finished. Ben rubbed his left arm nervously and walked towards the largest of the windows, at the city outside. When was the last time he’d breathed that air, had heard the honking of cars besides what he could hear from inside his apartment? Memories began to spring to mind, until one particular memory stuck. Ben froze.

It had been a little more than four years since he’d last left this apartment, since his 25th birthday. Since that day when his life had changed forever.

Sirens blared in Ben’s mind. He could see blood. He could see their faces, the message on the wall. The message addressed to him. Ben couldn’t breathe.

“Ben?” Poe’s voice broke through the memory, his hand gently wrapped around one of Ben’s large shoulders. Ben was shaking. There were tears in his eyes as his bottom lip trembled. “Hey, buddy. It’s okay. Hey, come this way. Sit down.”

Poe’s voice was soothing. Ben followed him mechanically, as the tears began to spill. Poe grabbed him a tissue box from his desk and offered it to him, but Ben couldn’t move. He wiped his tears for him, sitting beside him until Ben calmed, coming back to his senses.

“Did you remember again?” Poe asked, concerned. It wasn’t the first time he’d witnessed Ben go through this, and it almost always occurred when Ben looked out that window. But he wasn’t sure what else to do, how to help him. Ben nodded, gulping down his fears as the world around him stopped spinning.

“I’m sorry, Poe,” Ben held his face in one hand, his elbow resting on the table. He shut his eyes as he spoke. “This keeps happening-”

“Should I call Holdo again?” Poe asked softly, but Ben shook his head at the mention of his therapist’s name. He wasn’t ready to see her again. Not after last time.

“No,” Ben said quietly, his deep voice clear. “I just need a moment.”

Poe patted his hand affectionately. Ben could sense his unease, the way the slightly younger man felt helpless sometimes. The doorbell rang at that moment, jolting them both.

“It’s probably Chewie,” Ben muttered. “Or the groceries I ordered.”

Poe went to answer the door in Ben’s stead. The door wasn’t even open for two seconds before Chewie’s large voice boomed through the entire apartment. “Poe! Good to see ya. Where’s the brat?”

“In the living room,” Poe flashed a smile at the older man, letting him inside. “He just had a bit of an episode though, so he might not feel much like talking.”

“Oh,” Chewie made a face. “Is now a bad time?”

“No, I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to see you. Ben, Chewie’s here.”

\---

The three men were huddled over the table, discussing something. It was growing dark outside. Poe had yet to draw the curtains again, Ben’s attention was on the twinkling lights of the city. He wondered what the place where Rey lived was like, what her face would look like in the glow of the lights.

They’d spent the last few hours discussing Ben’s comic, the demands from his publisher, and about the new video game that was in production based on his comic. Ben was still a bit surprised over this, although he’d had his hand in several games up until now. But it was the first time one would be created based on his own original comic.

“They said they’re nearly done with a demo version and would like to meet with you soon to discuss some important details,” Chewie stated, rather matter-of-factly. He was always extremely business-oriented when they began discussing Ben’s work. Ben felt lucky to have him as his manager. It made his life much easier than having to deal with people he didn’t know personally. He grimaced at the idea of them coming to meet him in person. He didn’t like people he didn’t know coming into his personal space. “How’s next Wednesday?”

“So soon?” Ben’s eye twitched, his voice strained. Poe nudged him in the ribs with his elbow.

“Next Wednesday works for me,” Poe said, his eyes still on Ben. Ben was pouting like a small child who didn’t get his way. “I’ll come over Tuesday night and make sure this guy is presentable.”

Chewie snorted a quiet chuckle, shuffling papers in his hands. “Alright then, it’s settled. I’ll call them tomorrow and let them know,” his attention turned to Ben. “It’ll be okay, lad. They’re all nice folks. They won’t bite.” He winked, Ben sitting back now with his arms folded.

“I should order us takeout,” Poe excused himself from the table, declaring the meeting over. Chewie relaxed back in his seat, still watching Ben. Ben was biting his lip, mulling over something. “What do you want? Chinese?”  
“I was thinking maybe Thai,” Chewie stroked his chin, large fingers disappearing into his beard. “We had Chinese last time.”  
\---

It took several hours for Poe and Chewie to finally go to bed. Ben remained in his living room, fingers tracing the black edge of the closed curtain, a strange temptation causing him to want to pull it back. The two men often stayed the night after working with Ben all day, using the spare rooms Ben kept mainly for storing his work. Poe had strictly instructed Ben to keep a lamp on when working late at night, to preserve what little eyesight he still had left. Ben did enjoy the odd warmth the light gave the room, the only sound the faint snoring of the two men and the whirring of traffic outside. 

Ben sometimes felt like he was trapped within a snowglobe. He wished he could live like Poe and Chewie, that he had a life outside of this space like they do. He wanted to go outside again. He shut his eyes tightly as memories threatened to flood his mind again, fingers tangling tight in the curtain. Stop it, he tried to tell himself. Stop thinking. 

He felt his phone buzz.

Ben welcomed the distraction, snapping out of the dark place in his mind that had threatened to consume him. His hands shook as he rummaged his pocket for his phone. It was Rey.

He contemplated for a moment before answering, but his thumb had already auto-answered the call. He held the phone gingerly up to his ear, only to wince when Rey yelled at him.

“BEN!” He nearly tossed the phone, his face wrinkling up in pain at the shrill tone of her voice. “Dude, what is up? You still haven’t replied.”

“I was… working.”

He could hear Rey tapping her nails against a desk as she thought about how to reply. “You’re always working.” she said, somewhat dejectedly. Ben felt guilty. 

“I’m sorry, Rey. We have a deadline coming up and had to have a meeting about… work matters. It totally slipped my mind.” Ben’s heart sank as he spoke, his voice low so as not to wake Poe or Chewie. He glanced at the window again before shuffling towards his desk. “I can answer now.”

“It’s not just that, Ben,” Rey sighed. “I’m just worried about you. We used to talk about everything and lately I don’t hear anything from you unless it’s related to your work or the RP. We haven’t even video called in two months.”

Ben ran his fingers through his too long hair, the guilt eating away at him now. He thought of why he hadn’t called. He felt embarrassed by his appearance, the unkempt condition of his hair and clothing. His eyes trailed to the closed doors of the rooms behind him.

“We can do that now.” he mumbled into the receiver. 

“Okay,” Rey replied, somewhat intrigued. She was video calling him a moment later. Ben sunk into his desk chair, his heart pumping loudly. He felt nervous to see her face so suddenly.

“Hey,” he managed to mutter as her large brown eyes batted innocently at him, or that was at least how he felt. A lump had formed in the back of his throat. “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s whatever,” Rey shrugged. She was eating cereal, her hair half done up in a haphazard looking bun. Ben had guessed she had just woken up as she shoved a spoon into her mouth. “I’m just glad you’re still alive.”

Ben could feel his cheeks grow a little pink, as he tried to fight back a smile. “I’m sorry, I’ll probably be a little busier than usual for the next while. But you can call me anytime. I’ll answer. It’s just… Work is really important lately.” Ben scratched the back of his head, worried he was rambling. “When we’re finished with our new project, I’ll tell you about it.”

He hadn’t meant to say that last part. Rey stared quizzically at him, having noticed that this was unusual for Ben. He’d never shared anything about his work with her, constantly fearing someday she might realize he was really Ben Solo. He wasn’t ready for that. 

Ben knew everything about Rey. He knew her birthday, her favourite colour, where she lived, which university she was attending. He knew who her closest friends were, where she liked to eat, what she liked to eat. He knew her full name. Neither had disclosed much information about their families, and neither had wanted to broach that topic. At least not Ben. 

But Ben had rarely offered any information about himself. Rey didn’t know his full name, who he really was, what his job was. She had no idea what had happened to him four years ago, or how he’d never left his apartment since that time. He felt like there was a wall in the way of him spilling everything to Rey. He was a dam, and the water threatened to break him down and overflow every time his eyes set sight on hers.

“Promise?” Rey asked him suddenly. She was holding out her pinky towards the camera. Ben stared at it for a moment. 

Ben slowly extended his towards her as well, smiling awkwardly. “I promise.” He hoped he would keep that promise.

Rey smiled. “I’m excited to learn more about this job of yours.”  
Ben really hoped he would tell her.

**Author's Note:**

> Ayooo. This fanfic is probably going to require a lot of work on my part. I would ideally like to get two more chapters done in the next week but I'm unsure if my work/life schedule is going to allow for that. I also write another fanfic. This fanfic is tentatively listed at 30 chapters, but I may change that later on. The first three chapters of this will be setting up the story and learning more about Ben's character. I'm not overly happy with how this chapter panned out, yet I think it's important for getting to know Ben.
> 
> I have no idea if anyone has written a fic like this (probably?). lol 
> 
> Partly inspired by: Memories of Alhambra, W - Two Worlds (my sister's favourite Korean drama), Extraordinary You (another personal favourite of my sister's, I've never watched either W or this series but she's told me a lot), and the movie Paprika by Satoshi Kon. Each chapter title will come from various artists that I've been listening to. I listen to a lot of K-pop, Japanese rock and indie music, The Cure, Muse, etc. Enjoy!


End file.
